RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — Almost 15 years to the day after a village teenager was killed by an oncoming locomotive, the Village Council is set to vote on an ordinance that would outlaw the sounding of train whistles except for an emergency, reports the Bergen Record.
The new law, expected to be passed Wednesday, is designed to stop trains from sounding their horn as they approach the Ridgewood station.
NJ Transit officials say trains will continue to sound their horn.
“We do it at all stations,” said NJ Transit spokesman Michael Klufas. “People might not hear a train coming in. It’s just another warning. Another opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, we are coming, get off the tracks.’ ”
Ridgewood officials say they want to protect nearby residents from an often intrusive noise.
“There have been complaints from residents who live all along the tracks,” Mayor Jane Reilly said. “It becomes a quality-of-life issue for these residents. That’s why we are trying to address it.”
It is not clear what effect the ordinance would have. Rail operators — including the line’s heaviest user, NJ Transit — are bound by state and federal laws and guidelines that determine when, where, how long, and how loudly they must sound their whistles.
Train whistles are required by federal law to register at least 96 decibels at 100 feet in front of the locomotive, about the same as the whine of a power tool, heavy truck traffic, or the subway.
But that law applies only to grade-crossings, where trains intersect with motor vehicle traffic. There are no such locations in Ridgewood.
However, NJ Transit abides by a set of rules approved by the Federal Railroad Administration that, in short, say whistles are sounded on approach to stations. The rules from the Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee govern both freight and passenger railroads.
“People are going to say NORAC is not law,” Klufas said. “But for all intents and purposes, it is. It’s abided by all the railroads. The biggest concern is safety.”
Safety concerns heightened after the Dec. 8, 1986, accident that killed 16-year-old Kevin Ott, who was walking the tracks to his Ridgewood home. Ott was listening to music on headphones as he walked.
The engineer’s horn blast a few seconds before impact went unheeded, possibly because of a second train idling about 10 feet from the accident site. Another man was apparently killed by a train a month after Ott in the same area.
Following Ott’s death, village residents pushed to make the area near the tracks safer, signing a petition that led to increased fencing along the line.
Because of the inherent dangers posed by massive trains cutting in and out of residential North Jersey communities such as Ridgewood, at least one councilwoman is opposed to the new ordinance.
“When you balance the annoyance of the noise against the possible tragedy, I can’t vote for this proposed new regulation,” said Councilwoman Kim Ringler Shagin. “If someone should fall and get knocked out, if someone has been drinking too much, train whistles can rouse someone.”
Ridgewood is not the only North Jersey town attempting to stop trains from sounding their horns. Glen Rock tried a similar tactic last year, passing a law that banned the use of train horns from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. except in emergencies.
When trains did not abide by the law, the town issued summonses to the operators, including NJ Transit. A municipal judge, however, dismissed the complaints, saying state law overrides the local ordinance.
Ridgewood’s law does not specify penalties for violations.
The hearing on the Ridgewood law will take place Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Village Hall at 131 N. Maple Ave.